Notes on a Scorecard - Jan. 4, 1995

Tom Lasorda didn’t ring in the new year with his customary vigor. . . .

“I’m completely depressed,” the Dodger manager said about the baseball strike. “I feel the worst about the fans. This isn’t our game. It’s the fans’ game. The game belongs to them and the people in baseball don’t seem to realize it.” . . .

Lasorda will leave for spring training in six weeks, but, right now, doesn’t know what to expect at Vero Beach. . . .

“It would be great if there were a new labor contract by then,” he said. “But compromise is needed and neither side seems willing to compromise.” . . .

Lasorda--who is management but always has been tight with the players--prefers not to speculate about veterans crossing picket lines or fans paying major league prices for a minor league product. . . .

“I think back on what a terrific season we should have had last year,” Lasorda said. “Most of the division races were tight and a lot of guys were going after records that hadn’t been touched in years. The strike couldn’t have happened at a worse time.” . . .

Among the division leaders were the Dodgers, who had a 3 1/2-game advantage over San Francisco in the National League West on Aug. 12 when the ballplaying stopped. . . .

Lasorda has maintained his usual off-season speaking schedule, having addressed audiences ranging from the Penn State football team to the Philadelphia College of Optometry. . . .

“I talked to the Nittany Lions last Saturday after practice,” he said. “Now, I’m 2-0 in Rose Bowls. Last year, I talked to Wisconsin. People asked me why I didn’t talk to UCLA, instead. Well, Terry Donahue didn’t ask me.” . . .

On Tuesday, Lasorda spoke to the Rotary Club in his hometown of Fullerton. . . .

“I said that the fans are irate because we took something away from them,” Lasorda said. “And I said that I’d be worried if they weren’t irate.” . . .

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College football coaches who are opposed to a playoff system should listen to Joe Paterno, who stresses academics more than most and still believes the national champion should be determined by extending postseason play. . . .

Of course, Paterno might also want a tournament because four of his Penn State teams have gone unbeaten and not been voted the title. . . .

My unofficial vote went to Penn State throughout the season, but I will admit Nebraska was more impressive against Miami than the Nittany Lions were against Oregon. . . .

Of course, they would have played with more intensity had Miami beaten Nebraska and the national championship been at stake. . . .

Notice how well-behaved Paterno’s and Tom Osborne’s teams are? . . .

Credit Nebraska’s all-world weight room for the Cornhuskers’ overwhelming performance in the fourth quarter against Miami, which suddenly looked like a 98-pound weakling. . . .

Highlight of USC spring and summer practices will be the duel between Brad Otton and Kyle Wachholtz for the starting quarterback job. . . .

Trojan wide receiver Keyshawn Johnson, who was voted the offensive player of the game in the Cotton Bowl, would be wise to play his senior year rather than leave school for the NFL draft. He has competed only one season at the varsity level and would go much higher in the 1996 draft. . . .

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Trade rumors of Scottie Pippen to Seattle are being heard again. Chicago supposedly would get Sam Perkins, Byron Houston and a No. 1 pick. That doesn’t sound like enough to me. . . .

Christian Laettner might be headed to the Boston Celtics. . . .

Rod Dixon, a bronze medalist in the 1972 Olympic Games, has been appointed ambassador of the Los Angeles Marathon. . . .

The 10th L.A. event, now the world’s third-largest marathon, will be held on March 5. . . . The Forum plans to promote 20 boxing shows this year on Monday nights, to be televised by Prime Sports, and five more on Saturday nights, to be shown on Channel 9. . . .

Michael Moorer’s retirement lasted nearly 10 years less than George Foreman’s. Moorer has signed to fight March 18 on a Las Vegas card that will include Lennox Lewis vs. Lionel Butler. . . .

Axel Schulz, who will challenge Foreman for the World Boxing Assn. and International Boxing Federation heavyweight titles April 22 at New Orleans, is ranked 25th by the rival World Boxing Council. . . .

Lasorda said his highest salary as a player was the $10,000 the Brooklyn Dodger organization paid him in 1955, “and they didn’t think I deserved that much.”